salvation

Our Master’s Coming is Nearer Every Hour

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. – Revelation 20:22

I am no prophet, nor the son of a prophet, and I cannot foretell what is yet to happen in the earth; it may be that the darkness will deepen still more, and that the shadows will multiply and increase; but the Lord will come. When He went up from Olivet, He sent two of His angels down to say, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.” He is surely coming; and though the date of His return is hidden from our sight, all the signs of the times look as if He might come very speedily. I was reading, the other day, what old Master William Bridge says on this subject:-“If our Lord is coming at midnight, He certainly will come very soon, for it cannot be darker than it now is.” That was written two hundred years ago, but our Lord has not come yet, and I might say much the same as Master Bridge did. Do not doubt as to Christ’s coming because it is delayed. A person lies dying, and the report concerning him is, “Well, it does not look as if he could live many hours.” You call again, and they say, “Well, he still survives, but it seems as if he would scarcely get through the night.” Do you go away and say, “Oh, he will not die; for I have expected, for several days, to hear that he has passed away”? Oh, no! but each time you hear the report, you feel, “Well, it is so much nearer the end.” And so is our Master’s coming; it is getting nearer every hour, so let us keep on expecting it. That glorious advent shall end our weary waiting days, it shall end our conflicts with infidelity and priestcraft, it shall put an end to all our futile endeavors; and when the great Shepherd shall appear in His glory, then shall every faithful under-shepherd and all his flock appear with Him, and then shall the day break, and the shadows flee away. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2477.cfm

With the Lord’s Presence We Can Do It

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit 2 Comments

Is not the LORD your God with you? – 1 Chronicles 22:18

We are engaged in the building of a temple, in a spiritual sense. God has sent His servants into the world, to gather together for His beautiful house, stones hewn out of the quarry of nature, to be shaped, polished, and prepared for building into the temple of His grace. The Church is the living temple of God, “exceeding magnifical.” It is a wondrous idea that men’s hearts and souls can be blended together, and built up into a spiritual temple wherein God will dwell. This temple is to be builded of stones taken from the quarry of nature, and, God being with us, you and I are to go forth, and to hew out and shape and prepare the stones for the building of this house of the Lord which shall endure for over.

In order to do this, we certainly need the presence and the help of God; for what can we do without Him? In the work of conversion, what can be done without the Spirit of God? I would like anybody who thinks he can convert another person without divine help, to try and do it, and see what a wretched failure he will make of it, or what a dire hypocrisy he will produce by his apparent success. We must have God with us for this work; we cannot create a spark of grace, how then can we create a new heart and a right spirit? Conversion is an absolute creation, regeneration is a miracle of divine grace, the work of the Spirit of God; and this is altogether beyond our power. We need the Spirit of God to aid us in the building of a temple for God; but, brethren, with the Lord’s presence we can do it. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2471.cfm

The Perfume of Christ

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation 3 Comments

I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. – Song of Songs 2:1

To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. – 2 Corinthians 2:16

Such is the freeness of Christ’s grace that it is written, “I am found of them that sought Me not.” He sends His sweet perfume into nostrils that never sniffed after it. He puts Himself in the way of eyes that never looked for Him. How I wish that some man who has never sought for Christ, might find Him even now! You remember the story that Christ tells of the man that was ploughing the field; he was only thinking of the field, and how much corn it would take to sow it; and he was ploughing up and down, when suddenly, his plowshare hit upon something hard. He stopped the oxen, and took his spade, and dug, and there was an old crock, and it was full of gold. Somebody had hidden it away, and left it. This man had never looked for it, for he did not even know it was there, but he had stumbled on it, as men say, by accident. What did he do? He did not tell anybody, but he went off to the man who was the owner of the field, and he said, “What will you take for that field?” “Can you buy it?” “Yes, I want it, what will you take for it?” The price was so high that he had to sell the house he lived in, and his oxen, and his very clothes off his back; but he did not care about that, he bought the field, and he bought the treasure, and then he was able to buy back his clothes, his house, and his oxen, and everything else. If you find Christ, and if you have to sell the coat off your back in order to get Him, if you have to give up everything you have that you may find Him, you will have such a treasure in Him that, for the joy of finding Him, you would count all the riches of Egypt to be less than nothing and vanity; but you need not sell the coat off your back, Christ is to be had for nothing, only you must give Him yourself. If He gives Himself to you, and He becomes your Savior, you must give yourself to Him, and become His servant. Trust Him, I beseech you, the Lord help you so to do, for Jesus’ sake! Amen. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2472.cfm

Jesus is Accessible

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, salvation 5 Comments

I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. – Song of Songs 2:1

Oh, blessed be my Master’s name! He has brought us a common salvation, and He is the common people’s Christ! …He is a fountain, bearing this inscription, “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” “I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.” Why do roses grow in Sharon? Why do lilies grow in the valleys? Why, to be plucked, of course! I like to see the children go down into the meadow when it is decked in grass, and adorned with flowers, gilded with buttercups, or white with the day’s-eyes; I love to see the children pluck the flowers, and fill their pinafores with them, or make garlands, and twist them round their necks, or put them on their heads. “O children, children!” somebody might cry, “do not spoil those beautiful flowers, do not go and pick them.” Oh, but they may! nobody says they may not; they may not go into our gardens, and steal the geraniums and the fuchsias; but they may get away into the meadows, or into the open fields, and pluck these common flowers to their heart’s content. And now, poor soul, if you would like an apronful of roses, come and have them. If you would like to carry away a big handful of the lilies of the valleys, come and take them, as many as you will. May the Lord give you the will! That is, after all, what is wanted; if there be that grace-given will, the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the valleys will soon be yours. They are common flowers, growing in a common place, and there are plenty of them; will you not take them? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2472.cfm

The True “Plant of Renown”

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God 4 Comments

I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. – Song of Songs 2:1

He is not only full of joy, and pleasure, and delight to our hearts, but He is full of all sorts of joy, and all sorts of pleasure, and all sorts of delights to us.

“Nature, to make His beauties known,
Must mingle colors not her own.”

The rose is not enough, you must have the lily also, and the two together fall far short of the glories of Christ, the true “Plant of renown.”

“I am the rose.” That is the emblem of majesty. The rose is the very queen of flowers; in the judgment of all who know what to admire it is enthroned above all the rest of the beauties of the garden. But the lily-what is that? That is the emblem of love...Are you not delighted when you put these two things together, majesty and love? A King upon a throne of love, a Prince, whose very eyes beam with love to those who put their trust in Him, a real Head, united by living bonds of love to all His members; such is our dear Lord and Savior. A rose and yet a lily; I do not know in which of the two I take the greater delight, I prefer to have the two together. When I think that my Savior is King of kings and Lord of lords, I shout, “Hallelujah!” But when I remember that He loved me, and gave Himself for me, and that still He loves me, and that He will keep on loving me for ever and ever, there is such a charm in this thought that nothing can excel it. Look at the lily, and sing,-

“Jesus, lover of my soul,
Let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,
While the tempest still is high!
Hide me, O my Savior, hide,
Till the storm of life be past;
Safe into the haven guide;
Oh receive my soul at last.”

Then look at the rose, and sing,-

“All hail the power of Jesus’ name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all;”

then put the rose and the lily together, and let them remind you of Christ’s majesty and love. The combination of these sweet flowers also suggests our Lord’s suffering and purity.

“White is His soul, from blemish free,
Red with the blood He shed for me.”

The rose, with its thorn, reminds us of His suffering, His bleeding love to us, His death on our behalf, His bearing of the thorns which our sin created. Christ is a royal rose beset with thorns; but the lily shows that-

“For sins not His own
He died to atone.”

And of what avail would His perfections be if He had not died, the Just for the unjust, to bring us to God? But the two together, the rose and the lily, suffering and purity, fill us with delight. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2472.cfm

Our Adorable Lord

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God 3 Comments

“Yea, he is altogether lovely.”- Songs 5:16

No words can ever express the gratitude we owe to Him who loved us even when we were dead in trespasses and sins: the love of Jesus is unutterably precious and worthy of daily praise. No songs can ever fitly celebrate the triumphs of that salvation which He wrought singlehandedly on our behalf: the work of Jesus is glorious beyond compare, and all the harps of angels fall short of its worthy honour. Yet I do believe, and my heart prompts me to say so, that the highest praise of every ransomed soul and of the entire Christian church should be offered to the blessed person of Jesus Christ, our adorable Lord. The love of His heart is excelled by the heart which gave forth that love, and the wonders of His hand are outdone by the hand itself, which wrought those godlike miracles of grace. We ought to bless Him for what He has done for us as Mediator in the place of humble service under the law, and for what He suffered for us as Substitute on the altar of sacrifice from before the foundation of the world; and for what He is doing for us as Advocate in the place of highest honour at the right hand of the Majesty on high: but still the best thing about Christ is Christ Himself. We prize His gifts, but we worship Him. His gifts are valued, but He Himself is adored. While we contemplate, with mingled feelings of awe, admiration, and thankfulness, His atonement, His resurrection, His glory in heaven, and His second coming, still it is Christ Himself, stupendous in His dignity as the Son of God, and superbly beautiful as the Son of man, who sheds an incomparable charm on all those wonderful achievements, wherein His might and His merit, His goodness and His grace appear so conspicuous. For Him let our choicest spices be reserved, and to Him let our sweetest anthems be raised. Our choicest ointment must be poured upon His head, and for His own self alone our most costly alabaster boxes must be broken. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1446.cfm

His Mouth is Most Sweet

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit 4 Comments

His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. – Songs 5:16

Oh that I could rise to something better than myself. I often feel like a chick in the egg; I am picking my way out, and I cannot get clear of my prison. Fain would I chip the shell, come forth to freedom, develop wings, and soar heavenward, singing on the road. Would God that were our portion. If anything can help us to get out of the shell, and to begin to rise and sing, it must be a full and clear perception that Jesus is altogether lovely. Come, let us be married to Him afresh. Come, believing hearts, yield again to His charms; again surrender yourselves to the supremacy of His affection. Let us have the love of our espousals renewed. As you come to His table bethink you of the lips of Christ, of which the spouse had been speaking before she uttered my text: “His mouth is most sweet.” There are three things about Christ’s mouth that are very sweet. The first is His Word. The second is His breath. Come, Holy Spirit, make Thy people feel that. And the third is His kiss. May every believing soul have that sweet token of His eternal love.

May some that never knew my Master ask to know Him…Read the Word to find Him. Cry to Him in prayer and He will be found of you. He is so lovely that I should not live without loving Him; and I shall deeply regret if any one of you shall spend another four-and-twenty hours without having had a sight of His divine face by faith. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1446.cfm